After just two weeks of announcing his upcoming marriage, American billionaire Rupert Murdoch has called off his engagement. Sources close to the 92-year-old media mogul revealed to the US magazine Vanity Fair that he and Ann Lesley Smith had “abruptly” ended their plans for the ceremony.
The wedding was scheduled for this summer, less than a year after Murdoch’s divorce from his fourth wife, model Jerry Hall. He was previously married to Jerry Hall, Wendi Murdoch, Anna Murdoch Mann, and Patricia Booker.
Smith, 66, had enthusiastically expressed their compatibility and described the relationship as “not her first rodeo” when they announced their plans to marry two weeks ago. Murdoch proposed to the former police chaplain with an Asscher-cut diamond solitaire on St. Patrick’s Day, expressing his nervousness and his hope that this would be his last relationship.
With a net worth of £13.9 billion, Murdoch has six children from his previous marriages. Their whirlwind romance had caught the public’s attention in January when they were seen on holiday in Barbados. The couple, who met in September 2022, had quickly become engaged after Murdoch phoned his new fiancée just two weeks later.
Ann Lesley was seen wearing an 11-carat diamond engagement ring estimated to be worth approximately $2.5 million, and previously referred to their relationship as a “gift from God,” emphasizing their shared beliefs.
